My Second Family
by Shattered Aura
Summary: A look at what happened inside my head, the day of my school Outsiders play and how it went. Dedicated to Belle McGrath for the amazing director that she is.


**A/N: Hey guys!**

**This is a one-shot of my Outsiders play experience, of what happened in my head all day Tuesday before and durin the show! I've had a great time, and you'll most likely notice it!**

**I'm clearing a couple of stuff;**

**1) There's no Steve in the play. Sorry, Steve fans. :(**

**2) I've tried to maximize the detailing in some places, like when it was my turn to act. Don't be annoyed if you think it's too long! I hope you'll like it though!**

**3) An update to Early Fire AND Heartbeat will probably happen this weekend! Sorry for the wait, everone!**

**4) If you want more details of my experience, don't be shy to PM me! :)**

**5) The story happens in our timeline, and Dally and Johnny are alive!**

**6) It was written on my Ipad and posted with it too, so there might be grammar mistakes and typos! Sorry about that!**

**Finally, this one-shot is a dedication to Belle McGrath, the best director a beginner like me could ask for! Great job girl xxx**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders but of course I own the idea!**

**The story is in my POV! Please review and don't forget to enjoy! :D**

XxX

"I can't believe today's the day..." I whisper to myself as we park the car in front of the school.

"Well, you have to," my mom teases from next to me, having heard me despite my whispering. She pats my shoulder twice and looks at me with a gentle smile and loving eyes. "You'll do fine, sweetie."

I sigh._ I hope so_, I add in my head. With a small, non-convincing smile, I step out of the car and make my way toward the school's doors, costume in hand. The sight that greets me is the same; the main office, next to fancy-looking but not comfortable seats and new ceiling lights.

I walk down the hall where I know will lead to the cafeteria, where hundreds of students sit and talk about their classes and subjects only they understand. I curse the school for letting us perform here; I kinda hate being the center of attention, and although really nice, I don't enjoy being bugged about my performances much.

I take a left turn down the hall to the lockers and hastily do my lock combination. I take off my winter coat—still wearing it because of the cold wheather—and shove it in my locker before slamming it shut and locking it.

"There you are," a familiar voice says, and I turn to see Darry, all smiles. He's already ready, with stage makeup on his face, his hair greased the perfect amount and his rumble black shirt on. He leans against the locker. "You ready?"

I bite my lip but nod. I swing my bag over my shoulder and make my way to the lobbies so I can change into my costume and so my friend Moffy can work on my hairstyle and makeup. He follows closely behind but in a distance so it isn't tense or awkward, but makes me feel safe.

"You're finally here!" Belle, my best friend and the play's director, acknowledges. "Excited yet?"

Truthfully, I am. Both excited and frightened. The worst part is that we're only showing the first sixth scenes during the day to the students, and I'm in the seventh one, so I'll have to wait until tonight to perform. The anxiety is killing me.

But I don't tell her that. "Lots," I say instead. Then, I offer to help with the backstage crew; that way, I won't be doing nothing, and I'll be able to watch the show. I don't give her those reasons, but she accepts anyway. I'm already wearing nothing but black clothing, having planned it this morning. She shoots me a thankful smile before resuming her conversation with Sodapop.

An hour later, everyone's ready, and it's only a few minutes before we're gonna present our first half-show. We stand together, doing the "shock", as we call; we form a giant circle, holding hands with the people next to us. The person to our left squeezes our hand, and we squeeze the person to our right's hand. It helps us focus on our character and stay grounded and concentrated. Dallas scoffed the first time, but he complied. It's a wonder he came to act in the play in the beginning, but Johnny somehow convinced him to. It wasn't hard from him.

I'm holding Marcia's and our mentor, Mrs. Annie's hand the first time. Marcia—and it's a wonder she also came, along with the other Socs—squeezes mine, and I squeeze Mrs. Annie's, as we share our thoughts before the first show. The last turn is silent, and when it's over, we cheer and clap Belle's hands before making our way backstage, waiting to start.

Each presentation goes this way, except for the second one. We didn't do the shock, and even the guys could tell from their performances that they weren't grounded enough. They don't have any regrets, though; sure, they complain about their poorer performance, but what's done is done, and the students still liked it a lot.

After that, it's dinner time. We all walk together—and a lot of students stare at us—to the "theatre tables"; every students have a specific table to eat there, and there are a few lined up tables for the theatre crew. Most of my friends aren't actors or backstage crew members, so I'd rather sit with them. But for today, I'll sit with the gang.

I sit next to Darry first, but then some of us switch seats, and I end up next to Two-Bit. I start eating my cheeseburger, but I'm not hungry; that's what happens when I'm nervous. Two-Bit brags about how he made some students laugh at the drive-in scene mostly and Darry counters him with how the others reacted to when he slapped Ponyboy. I giggle at their anctics but don't add anything.

We make small talk with other actors who aren't in the Outsiders play, and before we know it, we have to head back to the lobbies for the last two shows. We do the shock again, convinced that it'll help us. This time, Darry squeezes my hand and I squeeze Dallas'. Their hands are both rough but soft at the same time, while mine are moist with sweat from the stress I'm feeling, but we focus on our characters and the shows to come.

This one goes relatively well, and by the time the show's over, I feel a little more secure, as if the others' performances will also make mine better for tonight. I walk with Mrs. Syme—Mr. Syme couldn't make it, so a student offered to take his place—over to the distributing machines, and I grab a water bottle. The bell rings, announcing the ten minutes pause between classes, so we hurry to the lobbies for our final half-show of the day.

We do the shock again, sharing our remarks of the actors' performances so far and share our excitement about tonight's show. Ponyboy, who's in front of me, admits that he's extremely stressed out. Sodapop reassures him that everything's gonna be fine.

Darry again squeezes my hand, and I squeeze Marcia's. We end the last turn in complete silence and cheer again. Belle claps all our hands and ushers us to the backstage while the actors walk on stage and take their positions. I stay in the left wings of the stage and grab a chair from behind, getting ready to put it on stage in the second scene.

I smile to myself as the sixth scene ends. This was the best one yet; I'm extremely excited for tonight. Only a little more than three hours to go.

We all sit on the other side of the closed curtains where Mrs. Annie's drama class sits, ready to give us their compliments and critics. They tell us that they loved the lights; especially how they were presented for the sunrise at the church, which I have to agree. I didn't see it in face like they did, but I did saw it from the wings, and it looked beautiful.

I don't stick around for the rest. I get up and head back to the lobbies, finally putting on my nurse costume. The dress is actually a white dressing gown, but my grand-mother completely transformed it. Belle was really happy with the result, and so was I. It didn't even feel like it was a costume, it actually felt comfortable, so I kept it.

Now, the only thing left to do is put on my nurse cap, get my hair done and put my makeup on. I'm surprised to see that Moffy came right after our last show, and she stands in front of the wide mirrors attached to one of the walls. She motions me to sit down in front of the mirrors, telling me that she's ready with my makeover. Frankly, so am I.

When she's done, an hour later, I'm of course no longer wearing my glasses; instead, five pounds of makeup cover my face, and my hair is in a victoria roll—mindful of my nurse cap—, with tons of hairspray and bobby pins. Boy, am I gonna have fun washing my hair and face tonight after the show...

Belle talks to Ponyboy, who's back in the lobbies, along with the rest of the crew, but stops dead in her tracks when she sees me. Yesterday, during the general rehearsal, she saw me with only a small bun, and my makeup wasn't quite as realistic. "You look gorgeous," she says and gives me a quick hug.

"The '40s style should be her daily look," Moffy claims from behind me, "it looks natural on her." I grin but don't find anything to say. Belle agrees and shoots me a grin of her own before putting on her coat and heading into town with Sodapop, Cherry and Ponyboy. It's fun how the Socs are actually cooperating with the greasers just to put on a good show. The excitement gnaws at me for tonight; everyone will be at their best, I'm sure of it.

Dally, Darry, Two-Bit, Bob and Randy walk around school and then go to town to eat a bite as well. That leaves me with Johnny, Marcia, Mrs. O'briant—also acted by a student, who acts as the kids's teacher during the church fire—, Mrs. Syme, and the backstage crew. My dad brought me McDonald's food earlier, so I'm munching on nuggets while Johnny takes a couple of fries. "You don't have to ask," I tell him, seeing his hesitation. He nods and shoots me a small smile before taking more.

The fries are soon all eaten, and I didn't really eat a lot, either. Nerves tend to do that; give me a stomachache and stop my hunger. The stress is clawing at my insides, crawling from the back of spine all the way to my mind, making me think of what could go wrong tonight. I usually hate being under the spotlight, and if I fail while on stage, I don't know what I'll do.

Johnny senses my insecurities. "Hey, it's okay. You're gonna be good." It dawns on me that Johnny was just as nervous as I was this morning when I first saw him. Despite that, he did an amazing acting job in the half-shows. I shoot him a thankful smile and he smiles back.

Before I know it, everyone's back, putting final touches on their makeup after having ruined part of it while eating. It's now six forty and we're starting in twenty minutes. I gulp and tremble at the thoughts of screwing up my part of the show.

Belle puts her hand on my shoulder and pats it reassuringly before she beckons everyone to do the shock one last time. One of the backstage crew members squeezes my hand and I squeeze Mrs. Syme's. This time, our last two turns are made in complete silence, instead of only one. We know we have to be even more focused.

"The middle of the theatre is full of people, and the rows on the sides are slowly filling in," Mrs. Annie reports happily. The guys whoop; Belle once told us about the biggest crowd we've ever had for a non-musical play, and that was about seventy-five people. Tonight, we'll be attending from one hundred fifty to two hundred parents and friends. Belle is extremely pleased to know that and so am I.

"Good luck, guys and gals," Belle says as she claps all our hands like after every shock activity we did. "You're gonna rock the stage, I know it."

At first, when I enter backstage, I get an overwhelming feeling in the pit of my stomach. The show is happening. Like,_ right now. _I feel like I'm gonna choke and I just want to cry. But, I keep myself in check and will myself to calm down.

I stay in the right wings, eagerly watching the show as it slowly starts and picks up the usual pacing. Watch as like practiced, like done so many times, like presented four times already, the Socs jump Ponyboy, pin him to the ground and threaten to cut him up with a plastic switchblade, fact that some people know but probably don't acknowledge in the spur of the moment.

The crowd cheers after every scene, and laughs a lot at Two-Bit during the drive-in scene. He's real funny to watch, and the crowd encourages him a lot, making his performance better. Every actor's performance has been better as far as I know. I just hope mine will be too when the time comes.

I eagerly watch as the show keeps going on, until it's the fourth scene, when the slap happens. Darry and Ponyboy have always had a little bit of trouble with it; Darry hesitates, not wanting to hurt Ponyboy again. The both of them know it's for the show, but means a lot more to them. So, they act it out. They really had it the fourth time we presented it today, but it wasn't perfect.

I watch with wide eyes at he yells at Sodapop, and Ponyboy yells at him. Then, Darry wheels around and slaps him. My mouth pops open in shock. They did it!

The crowd gasps as Darry screams that he didn't mean to, and then we watch as he goes to the "lot" to get Johnny and run away. They halt right before they enter the wings, as the Socs emerge fron the shadows and proceed with doing the fountain scene. We won't actually see Ponyboy get drowned since he has a head mic and we don't want to screw it up, but we pour water on his shirt to show the effect that he _has_ been drowned, and he runs back on stage for the rest of the scene.

The next two scenes, at the church, go smoothly. The church fire timing is perfect, and before I know it, it's my first out of three scenes. I have my mic on, and I cover it with my hand. I breathe in and breathe out a couple of times to calm down, and then, the scene starts.

Ponyboy sits in the middle of the stage on a "hospital chair", and Mrs. O'Briant pats his shoulder, telling him that his brothers are on the way. She disappears in the wings just as Sodapop emerge from the dark, crying out Ponyboy's name and hugging the life out of him. "How come you didn't call or anything?" he softly asks, faking pretty realistic tears. "You tryin' to scare us to death?"

Darry stands in the light, away from the two boys, but then he calls Ponyboy's name softly, and he and Ponyboy collide. Darry hugs him fiercly and _actually_ cries. "I thought we lost you like we did Mom and Dad," he chokes out, and pulls Sodapop closer to hug him too. I can actually hear people cry in the crowd, but I can only focus on one thing.

That's my cue.

I walk on stage with the doctor, who's also acted by a student, and Darry starts. "Doctor, we're taking our kid brother home."

"He'll be okay," the doctor says, "there's no paperwork. You can go along home."

"I've asked for Johnny Cade and Dallas Winston, but no one told us anything."

"Are you members of the family?" I ask with a sneer on my face while narrowing my eyes at Darry.

"We're as much family as they'll ever have," Sodapop angrily retorts, while Darry shoots me a glare. I fake a huff as I stand there, listening to the doctor as she tells Dally's condition to Darry.

"What about Johnny?"

"We already called his parents," I snap at Darry with a glare of my own, and this time, the doctor also glares at me. I scrunch my nose up like a preppy woman, and fight to keep my position. The only thing I can hear are the voices of Darry and the doctor, and my pounding heart, going a hundred miles per hour and loudly ringing in my ears. _Focus, focus, focus,_ I think. _Everything's great._

"Is he unconscious?" Darry asks, talking about Johnny.

"In and out," the doctor answers. It's my turn.

"He's been asking for Dallas and Ponyboy," I claim in a softer tone while resting my hand on the doctor's shoulder. My character only likes the doctor, and so far, I think I nailed that part.

"Can we see him?" Darry asks.

"No," the doctor regretfully says. "What you do now is you go home and get some rest. There's nothing else you can do for now...sorry." I turn around and make my way back to the wings, closely followed by the doctor. Part one of three done, I think, thankful.

The next scene goes too quickly for my liking. Randy talks to Ponyboy before he and Two-Bit visit Johnny at the hospital. Too soon, it's my moment with Dally, in which I hope I won't burst laughing.

Dally is in a wheelchair in the middle of the scene, and I walk over to him in what I hope to be in a professional manner. I try to change the bandage on his arm, but he jerks it away and says, "What are you doing!?" I narrow my eyes at him and try again, and this time he snaps, "Leave me alone!" The last time I try, he shouts, "Go away! You make my stomach sick!" The crowd laughs as I huff at him and stomp away, while he gets up and wheels his chair back and disappears in the wings, making the crowd laugh even more.

I utter a small laugh when I'm no longer on stage and I sigh with relief. I did it. The doctor hands me my clipboard and we walk back on stage. It's my turn again. I make my way over to Johnny, but then I notice Two-Bit and Ponyboy, so I stomp over to them. I'm supposed to be pissed off because of Dally, and I snap at the two guys instead.

"What," I start with a screech, "are you DOING here?! You shouldn't even BE on this floor!" I glare at Two-Bit as he tried to object. "Your friend's in critical condition! NO visitors; absolutely!"

"Hey, Lady," Two-Bit protests with narrowed eyes, "it's my buddy in there! Please!"

"Let them go in, Nurse," the doctor says, stepping out of the shadows and next to me. She looks at the guys, "He's been asking for you," and then she looks at me, "it can't hurt now."

I sigh, annoyed. "Alright, he's over there," I motion with my clipboard and huff before stomping away toward the wings. The doctor laughs a little at me and pats me on the shoulder. I turn and watch the scene; my part isn't over yet.

I carefully listen to when Ponyboy and Johnny finish talking. Johnny is extremely good at faking being badly injured. "You ain't gonna die," Ponyboy shakily reassures Johnny, and that's my cue to go. I make my way to Johnny's bed and stand next to him, looking down at him.

"Johnny," I start, "your mother's here to see you."

"I don't wanna see h-her," he strongly says despite his weak voice.

"She's your mother," I retort a little more sternly.

"She's only come to tell me about all the troubles I've caused her," he snaps. "Just tell her to leave me alone," his voice weakens considerably, "for once, just l-leave me a-a—" his voice cracks and he passes out.

I drop my clipboard and pen on the floor and get on my knees in a hurry, grabbing his wrist. "I was afraid of something like this," I mutter to myself, starting to panic. "You'll have to go, please!" I shout at Ponyboy and Two-Bit. I turn my gaze toward the wings. "WE NEED A DOCTOR," I shout, and look back at the guys, "please!"

They reluctantly agree and leave the 'hospital room' just as the doctor rushes in, taking Johnny's pulse and furiously writing on her clipboard. She silently asks me what happened, and I wordlessly answer that he passed out. I can't talk; my mic is off when I don't need it, and it'll just draw attention to us, while it should be on Ponyboy and Two-Bit. We rehearsed it many times, though, and I know that Cherry's the one talking to him right now, so I don't look.

There's a blackout but we have to stay on stage and freeze. It's the rumble scene; there's a tall fence in the center of the stage, further back than the hospital walls, and that's where they're doing the rumble, chanting their song with 200% more energy than usual.

"I'm a Greaser," Sodapop shouts, "I'm a JD and a hood! I blacken the name of our fair cityyy!"

"I'm a Soc," Two-Bit shouts in a snobbish voice, which makes me fight to keep my laughter from bursting since I'm supposed to stay still. I somehow manage to keep my position in check. "I'm the priviliged and the well dress. I throw beer blasts and crash fancy windows at fancy parties!"

"And what do we do for fun?" Ponyboy half shouts, half asks in mock wonder, appearing in front of Two-Bit and Sodapop.

Darry appears behind them and the four of them shout, "WE JUMP GREASERS!" They begin cheering and whooping like crazy gorillas, which makes my focus falter a little. I quickly regain my posture and listen with closed eyes as the rumble scene is described—it was already difficult to stage, so there won't be an actual fight with staged punches—and then, the guys start shouting.

"Keep 'em awayy! Chase 'em hoommmeee!" Darry shouts.

"Chase 'em to Mexico!" Two-Bit shouts, saying Mexico with a funny accent. He leaves the scene with Sodapop, and only Darry and Ponyboy are seen. Darry asks Ponyboy if he's okay and tells him to get home. Then, Dally emerges out of the shadows and tells him to hurry up, that Johnny was getting worse when he left the hospital. There's a blackout and I move toward the center of the stage. That's my last scene, and I can't screw it up.

I watch to my right as the lights open, revealing Dally and Ponyboy as they enter the hospital in a hurry. "Hey!" I shout in the dark, "Stop!" I step into the spotlight where Dally glares at me. "You can't see him; he's dying!"

"Dying?" Ponyboy asks in pure fear, but my attention is soon turned to Dally when he steps in front of him and right in front of me, his chest about mere inches from my face. He's much taller than I am, and I actually feel the panic that my character is supposed to feel, even more than usual.

"We came to see Johnny and we're GONNA see Johnny!" he shouts at me and fiddles with something in one of his jacket's pockets. He pulls out a fake but realistic-looking gun and aims it at my face. "And if you give me any static, you'll end up on your own operating table!"

I back away from him with wide eyes. "Shall I...Shall I call security?" I shout over my shoulder, my voice cracking at the end unintentionally, but it makes my performance better, as I don't change my gaze from Dally. The doctor quickly makes her way toward me.

"Woah, woah, woah," she starts angrily, staring at the gun. "You can see him, but it's not because of the gun; it's because you're his friends, his family! Go ahead." Dally glares at her and then at me, but doesn't say anything, as he shoves us to go by Johnny's side, closely followed by Ponyboy. "Yes, call security," she tells me, and I quickly nod, aware that I'm still wide-eyed. Somehow, it makes the crowd laugh.

We disappear in the wings, and I breathe in when I realise that it's over. I've played my part; I've did the best I could, and the crowd probably loved it. I should be happy, but I'm feeling overwhelmed with an emotion that I can't quite place. Dread? Dread because all the rehearsals are over, all that hard work done in four months for a little less than ten minutes? Or pride, because all that hard work gave me an experience to be proud of?

Or maybe both? I shake my head to clear my thoughts, and walk backstage, all the way to the right wings, where our salutes will be done when the show is over. We still don't know what to do, the doctor and I; we figured going classy, since we weren't meant to be funny characters. Something flickers in my head; I was viewed as a funny nurse, with my attitude and my shouting to greasers who were a head taller than me.

As if reading my thoughts, the doctor turns to me with wide eyes and whispers in my ear, her proposition for our salute. My own eyes widen, and I break into a grin. That's what we'll do.

"When I step out into the bright sunlight," both Ponyboy and Mrs. Syme say at the same time, "from the darkness of the movie house, I had two things on my mind; Paul Newman, and a ride home." The curtains close, the lights close, everything holds its breath for a moment, and then, the cheers start. The heavy applause, the one which warms my heart with pride; that was the emotion I was feeling earlier. I'm proud of my performance, and everyone's performance, for that matter!

The curtains open again, and the lights flicker on, and then the salutes start. First, Mrs. O'Briant goes, with Mrs. Annie's kid, who was our kid for the church fire scene. Then, it's us.

Belle names us, and I come running on the stage in panic, shouting, "WE NEED A DOCTOR!" as loud as I can since my mic is off, and then the doctor comes running in. We grab our clipboards and bow to the crowd, earning laughter and more cheers. I grin as we run back to the wings and get ready for our final salute; the whole gang, backstage and technical crew included.

Ponyboy and Belle walk on stage and bow to the crowd, and we all take that as our cue to walk in and form a line. I'm squished between Randy and Two-Bit as they both hold my hands and we all rise our arms in the air once, then bow; twice, then bow again; and one last time, before clapping along with the crowd and whooping.

Then, something happens which makes my heart swell and my eyes tingle with unshed tears. The crowd stands.

Barely two hundred people, huddled together in the comfort of our theater's chairs, stand up and clap and cheer loudly. I've been in shows before, but never in one where there was a standing ovation for me. Of course, it's not only for me, but I can feel it's partly thanks to me. It's thanks to every single actor that the crowd stands for us.

I realise then, as the cheering fades and the crowd slowly sits, and as Belle starts her speech, that I'm where I belong: on stage, with my second family.


End file.
